Large Baluster Vase Satsuma Earthenware Signed Tanzan

Rare Satsuma earthenware vase. On a green background, decorated with dragons chasing the sacred pearl in the clouds. Theme often represented in traditional Japanese paintings and prints including Hokusai.
Signed below Tanzan, Meiji period (1868 - 1912)

Line of ceramists established in Kyoto since 1833, Tenzan Seikai who was the student of Nakabayashi Chikuto (1776-1853) and Tenzan Rokuro (1852 - 1897) his son ensured the growth and renown of the workshop by supplying pottery in the Awata region during the Edo and then Meiji eras. Together they contributed to the development of new techniques and processes with the help of the famous German chemist Gottfried Wagener.

By the famous collector Captain F. Brinkley who traveled extensively throughout Japan during the Meiji period, Tanzan's best pieces were praised as "as delicate and elaborate as medieval illuminations." The work is distinguished by an incrustation of colors, with lightly tinted and dark glazes, in contrast to the brighter glazes used by other ceramists of the Awata school.

Height: 44 cm
Very good general condition.
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